Spreader



Nov. 5, 1963 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 w. v. MACK 3,109,352

SPREADER 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Willi um V. Muck ,M-b, 42.0.4,hwy/g4,

ATTPRNEY S Nov. 5, 1963 w, v, MACK 3,109,352

SPREADER Filed Jan. 26. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 William V. Mock BY ,wzmm

ATTORNEYS W. V. MACK Nov. 5, 1963 SPREADER 4 Sheets-Sheet. 3'

Filed Jan. 26. 1960 iNVENTOR William V. Mock BY ,gm mwm E ATTORNEYS Nov.5, 1963 w, v, MACK 3,109,352

SPREADER Filed Jan. 26. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR William V. MockATTORNEYS 3,109,352 Patented Nov. 5, 1953 3,109,352 SPREADER Wiiiiam V.Mack, Bay Shore, N.Y., assignor to William V. Mack, Inc, Bay Shore, N. acorporation of New York Filed Jan. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 4,697 3 Claims.(Cl. 94-46) This invention relates generally to road surfacing machinesand, more particularly, to an improved machine for Spreading variousroad surfacing materials by which the width and depth of the materialspread may be quickly and easily controlled.

Road surfacing machines for laying roadways of concrete or asphalt andthe like are well known. A machine of this type is essentially a largehopper which is either self-propelled or is adapted to be towed byanother vehicle. This hopper is provided with an open bottom throughwhich surfacing materials are deposited as the hopper is moved along aprepared roadbed. The depth and level of the material deposited isregulated by a plate or plates attached to the trailing lower edge ofthe hopper adjacent its discharge opening.

Up to the present time, surfacing machines have ordinarlly been designedso that any given machine will deposit material across only one ofseveral so-called standard widths. Consequently, construction projectsrequiring several different widths of roadway, sidewalk or the like haverequired a different machine for each part of the project or haverequired that some areas be surfaced by costly hand methods.

In recognition of this problem, it has been proposed to build asurfacing machine equipped with an adjustable telescoping hopper toprovide various surfacing widths. However, the mechanism for controllingthis adjustment requires screw jack actuation and the sliding of severalparts together. Because road surfacing materials are notoriously apt toharden and foul sliding machine parts, the telescoping structure wouldinherently require a high degree of maintenance.

I have invented a novel road surfacing machine or spreader which isquickly and easily accommodated to various spreading widths differing bysmall useful increments. It has been the experience of those who havetested a spreader constructed according to the invention, that the widthof the surfacing material deposited can be varied from a fraction of onefoot to the full width for which the spreader is designed in only a fewminutes of changeover time.

A road spreader according to my invention has a hopper with an openbottom, a portion of which forms a discharge orifice to which roadsurfacing materials are adapted to flow from an inclined chute locatedwithin the interior of the hopper. The chute is arranged above aplurality of removable, horizontally spaced, vertical partitions, eachof which extends from front to rear across the interior of the hopper.Each of the partitions, together with the front and rear walls and oneside wall of the hopper, defines a discharge orifice of different widthand thus, a different width of roadway, sidewalk and the like. In orderto select a given discharge orifice width, the chute is first withdrawnfrom the hopper to a position where the lower end thereof is generallyvertically above the partition chosen to define one side of thedischarge orifice. The intervening partitions, between the selectedpartition and the side wall forming the opposite side of the dischargeorifice, will then be removed to form an unobstructed opening in thehopper bottom.

As a further aspect of the invention, the chute may rest upon the upperends of the several partitions and extend transversely through a portionof the side wall opposite that side wall which defines, in part, thedischarge orifice. Accordingly, the chute may be withdrawn from thehopper until the inner end thereof rests upon the partition which hasbeen selected to define the discharge orifice.

It has been found advantageous to construct the chute of linked, flatsegments, each having a horizontal traverse equal to the distancebetween separate partitions dividing the bottom of the hopper. Thus,when a given number of partitions have been removed or conversely, havebeen replaced to change the discharge portion of the hopper bottom to adesired dimension, the chute may be easily shortened or lengthened by anequal number of linked segments. Any linked segments not then requiredfor the chute may be folded down adjacent the sidewall supporting theupper end of the chute for convenient storage thereof. This constructionhas the correlative advantage that the part of the chute which iswithdrawn from the hopper will normally hook over the end wall of thehopper and will consequently secure the interior portion of the chutefrom shifting inwardly toward the hopper bottom.

Further aspects of the invention reside in an automatically verticallyadjustable hooking means which is provided for attaching the spreader toa truck. The latter ordinarily carries surfacing material which are fedto the hopper and also pulls the spreader as the surface is laid. As thetruck lightens due to the discharge of surfacing materials therefrominto the road spreader, the disclosed hooking mechanism automaticallycompensates for the gradual raising of the truck body to which it isattached.

Attention is now invited to the following description of a particularembodiment incorporating the present invention and to the drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spreader constructed I according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the spreader of FIG. 1 with a portionthereof illustrated in cross-section;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the spreader shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a detail in cross-section of a portion of the spreadersadjustable screed apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a detail in cross-section of a portion of the supply chuteprovided by the invention FIG. 7 is a rear elevation partially brokenaway; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 after two vertical partitionshave been removed to change the effective width of the area beingsurfaced.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the spreader attached to a dump truck in operativeand inoperative positions, respectively.

Referring now to the drawings and more specifically to FIGS. 13perspective, forward and rear views have been shown illustrating a roadsurfacing machine or spreader l6 constructed according to the invention.Spreader it includes a large mobile hopper, having front and rear walls12, i3 and side walls 14, 16. The front and side walls are funnelled attheir tops to facilitate efficient top loading of the hopper. The hopperis equipped with forward and read axles 17, 18 upon which are mounted asingle set of Wheels 19, on the left as viewed in FIG. 1, and on theright are provided axles 1'7, 13 upon which triple sets of wheels 2%,2t) are mounted for increased stability. The hopper body 12 has beenprovided with an open rectangular bottom, a portion of which forms adischarge orifice 2. through which the road surfacing materials aredeposited upon the area to be surfaced.

It will therefore be understood, that when the hopper has been filled orpartially filled with a surfacing material such as asphalt or concrete(see FIGS. 7 and 8) and when the road spreader is pulled in thedirection indicated in FIG. 1 by the arrow, a quantity of the surfacingmaterial will be continuously deposited in a path following thespreader. The level and average depth of the material deposited isdetermined by a vertically adjustable leveling device or screed 22.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, screed 22. may be composed of separateplates 23 and 24 which are independently mounted for sliding verticalmovement by pin and slot connections 25 against the lower face of therear wall 13 of the hopper. Hence, plates 23 and 24 are manuallyadjustable in varying degrees of height above the ground by a pluralityof individual screw jacks 36 which are fastened at their lower ends toplates 23, 24 by means of straps 27. Threaded portions of jacks 26 areengaged by series of threaded blocks 28 aflixed to the rear wall 13 ofthe hopper body 12, so that rotation of the jacks by means of cranks 29will cause vertical translation of plates 23, 24 attached thereto.

The width of the area which will be surfaced by the spreader isdetermined by the width of the discharge orifice 21. This dimension isdefined by the bottom edge of side wall 14 and by one of a series ofvertical partitions 30 which are mounted within the interior of thehopper. Partitions 30 extend from front to rear walls 12, 13 and areadvantageously mounted for vertically slideable Withdrawal from theinterior of the hopper from within a plurality of paired slotted supportbrackets 31, 32 which are attached to the the interiors of front andrear walls 12 and 13 of the hopper. As shown in FIG. 2, the lowerbrackets 32 are slotted only at their upper ends so that the partitions30 will rest upon the bottom of the slotted portions thereof.

An inclined supply chute 33 is situated within the interior of thehopper and rests upon the upper ends of each of the vertical partitions3t and upon a portion of the side wall 16 through which it extends.Surfacing materials placed within the hopper will tend to slide down thechute toward the open bottom of the hopper to be discharged asheretofore described. A platform 34 is secured to the rear wall 13 ofthe hopper so that a work man stationed thereon may assist the movementof surfacing materials down the chute toward the discharge orifice 21 ofthe hopper.

'Ihe chute 33, may be sl-idably withdrawn from the hopper by means of achute handle 35 extending through the opening provided in the side wall16 of the hopper. Chute 33 has been constructed of linked hingedsegments 36 which bridge the horizontal distances between the side wall16 and its adjacent partition 30 and between the adjacent partitionsthemselves. Accordingly (see FIGS. 7 and 8), whenever one or more of thepartitions are to be removed to widen the hopper bottom, the chute willfirst be withdrawn for a corresponding number of segments 36. The innerend of the chute 33 will then rest upon the partition 30 which has beenchosen together with side wall .14, to define the lateral dimension ofthe hopper bottom. The partitions 30, thus exposed, will be removed bysimply pulling them upward and out of the slots in brackets 31, 32.

That portion of the chute which is withdrawn from the hopper ispermitted to fold downwardly adjacent the side wall 16 (as indicated inFIG. 8 and by the dotted lines shown in FIG. 2) for convenient storagethereof. The withdrawn portion also hooks against the side wall 16 toprevent the chute from being pulled into the hopper by the action of thesurfacing materials in flowing down the inclined surface of the chutetoward the discharge orifice 21 of the hopper. When the chute isextended for its full length within the hopper, handle 35 checks anytendency of the chute to slide inwardly.

The present invention also includes a hooking mechanism 37 for attachingthe road spreader to a truck which supplies surfacing materials to thespreader and the motor power for pulling the spreader in the directionshown by the arrow in FIG. 1. The spreader will normally be attached toa rear part of the truck body by a drawbar (,not shown) which will beengaged by the hooking mechanism 37 in a manner to be described.Normally, road surfacing materials will be transferred from the truck toan upper part of the chute 33. A workman stationed upon the platform 34will push or otherwise assist the flow of the surfacing materials downthe chute 33 toward the discharge orifice 21 of the hopper. As the truckpulls the spreader forward and the flow of materials from the truck intothe hopper continues, the truck body will tend to rise as the loadtherein is lightened. It is a feature of the present hooking mechanismthat different drawbar levels will be compensated for automatically.

As shown, the hooking mechanism 37 is attached to an oblong supportingenclosure 38 constructed of heavy guage sheet steel or the like which isattached centrally by suitable means such as by welding or riveting tothe forward wall 12 of the hopper. Enclosure 38 has a forward face 39 inwhich three generally vertical slots 40 have been cut. The drawbarengaging portion of the hooking mechanism comprises two generallyrectangular hook receptacles 42, 43 which are attached by a channelmember 44. Channel 44 has been provided with bolts 45 therethrough whichare spaced apart laterally to coincide with the horizontal distancebetween the slots 40. The bolts 45 extend through the channel 44 andthrough the slots 40, the interior ends of the bolts 45 (not shown)having nut fasteners thereon for attaching the channel 44 to itssupporting enclosure 38. The at-. tachment of the channel member and itsassociated hook receptacles 42, 43 to the enclosure 38 is such as topermit vertical sliding movement of the channel member and hookreceptacles, relative to the enclosure 38.

The receptacles 42, 43 each encloses a downwardly facing hook 46 whichwill be pivoted upwardly upon the entry of a drawbar into key-shapedcutouts 47, 48 within the respective receptacles 42, 43. A bar 49extends through the receptacles 42, 43 and through both hooks 46 thereinto support the pivotal movement of the hooks. Bar 49 extends laterallyto rest upon a tender 50 which covers a set of triple wheels 20 and isdownwardly hooked at its end to form a handle portion 91. Anotherhorizontally extending bar 52 is attached by welding an inner portion 53thereof to the upper surfaoe of hook receptacle 42. Bar 52 extendshorizontally to rest upon the fender 54. Thus, the bars 52 and 49 act asstops to limit the extent to which the hook receptacles 42 and 43 maymove downwardly.

The hook receptacles may be fixed at some intermediate height, ifdesired, through the cooperative action afforded by a clamping devicewhich has been provided near the handle portion 51 of the bar 49. Theclamping device consists of a hand clamp 56 which is threaded into aportion of the bar 49 and which may be operated to clamp the bar 49against an upright U-shaped member 57 secured to the fender 50. When itis desired to place the hook receptacle 42, 43 at a given heightpreparatory to engagement with the drawbar of a truck, workmen willfirst grasp the bars 49, 52 to raise the hook receptacles to a givenheight. The hand clamp 56 may then be used to maintain the bars 49, 52and the hook receptacles at the height selected. After the truck drawbarhas been caught by the hooks 46 and before the spreader operation is begun, the clamp 56 will be released to permit the automatic adjustment ofthe hooking mechanism to the truck body as it lightens.

Normally the truck to which the spreader is attached will be of the dumpvariety (see FIGS. 9 and 10). One useful feature of this arrangement isthat as the spreader is being pulled by the truck to spread materialupon the roadbed, the truck body may be raised or tipped to assist theflow of material therefrom into the hopper. When the work is completed,two chains 58, only one of which appears in the drawing, may be hookedthrough openings 59 and 59 in the rear wall 13 of the spreader andfastened to the dump body as illustrated while in its tipped position.

With hooking mechanism 37 still securing the front of the spreader tothe truck drawbar, the body of the dump truck may be then lowered into ahorizontal position. This will draw the rear Wall of the spreaderupwardly as shown in FIG. and the spreader will hang from and besupported by the rear of the truck, its wheels clear of the ground fortransport to another site.

It will be appreciated from the above description that the road spreaderconstructed according to the present invention will be readily adaptableto perform many surfacing operations heretofore accomplished by hand.The partitions which successively define different widths of thematerial spread may be spaced apart within the hopper at sulficientlysmall increments so that, as a practical matter, any width of roadway,sidewalk, etc. may be accommodated. The quickly removable partitions andthe withdrawable segmentally hinged chute cooperate to provide extremelyshort changeover times in making the spreader ready for differentsurfacing Widths.

In combination with these advantages, the disclosed spreader is ofrelatively simple construction, requiring no motor power except thatfurnished by the truck which supplies the material for loading thehopper. A specific feature of this arrangement is that the hookingmechanism connecting the spreader to the rear of the truck body,automatically compensates for various heights as the truck bodylightens.

This detailed description and the drawings of a particular embodimentare merely illustrative. The full scope of the invention is defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a road spreader having front, rear and side walls forming a hopperadapted to receive road surfacing materials and the like, said hopperhaving an open bottom defining a discharge orifice, the width of saidorifice determining the width of the deposit of said surfacing materialsupon forward movement of said spreader, and means supporting said hopperfor movement, the improvement comprising a plurality of generallyparallel vertically disposed partitions within said hopper, means forremovably securing the ends of said partitions to front and rear wallsof said hopper, an inclined chute for supplying road surfacing materialsto said discharge orifice, the innermost one of each partition togetherwith one side wall'of said hopper defining a predetermined width of saiddischarge orifice, said partitions being arranged in spaced panallelrelationship to said one side wall, each partition being of successivelyincreasing height in a direction toward the other side wall to supportthe chute in inclined position, said chute being mounted within saidhopper above said 6 partitions and being supported by the upper end ofeach partition in said inclined position for withdrawal from said hopperto a position where the lower end thereof is supported on the innermostpartition which defines in part the width of said discharge orifice,said chute adjacent its upper end. extending transversely through anaperture defined by said other side wall opposed to said one side walldefining in part the width of said discharge orifice, said chute restingupon said other side wall and being withdrawable through said apertureto expose said partitions within said hopper, said chute beingconstructed of linked hinged segments 'Whose transverse spanindividually correspond to the distances between adjacent partitions andto the distance between the side wall supporting said chute and thepartition adjacent thereto such that a given number of partitions willbe exposed by the withdrawal of an equal number of segments from saidhopper, said segments when withdrawn being foldable downwardly adjacentthe exterior of said side wall supporting said chute.

2. A road spreader according to claim 1 in which the means for fasteningthe ends of said partitions includes members attached to said front andrear walls defining slots for the reception of the ends of saidpartitions, said slots being open at the top to permit slideablewithdrawal of said partitions from said hopper.

3. A road spreader according to claim 1 wherein said spreader includesadjustable leveling means slideably mounted for vertical movement uponthe rear wall of said hopper adjacent said discharge orifice.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,089,094 Kime Aug. 3, 1937 2,215,455 Abernathy Sept. 24, 1940 2,252,691Arndt Aug. 19, 1941 2,289,168 Barber July 7, 1942 2,303,486 McConnaughayDec. 1, 1942 2,403,820 Miller July 9, 1946 2,590,443 Miller Mar. 25,1952 2,697,631 Miller Dec. 21, 1954 2,762,276 M-auch Sept. 11, 19562,839,975 Robinson June 24, 1958 2,910,307 Jennings Oct. 27, 1959,954,241 Warren Sept. 27, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 805,293 France Aug. 22,1936 26,465 Finland July 27, 1954

1. IN A ROAD SPREADER HAVING FRONT, REAR AND SIDE WALLS FORMING A HOPPER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE ROAD SURFACING MATERIALS AND THE LIKE, SAID HOPPER HAVING AN OPEN BOTTOM DEFINING A DISCHARGE ORIFICE, THE WIDTH OF SAID ORIFICE DETERMINING THE WIDTH OF THE DEPOSIT OF SAID SURFACING MATERIALS UPON FORWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID SPREADER, AND MEANS SUPPORTING SAID HOPPER FOR MOVEMENT, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF GENERALLY PARALLEL VERTICALLY DISPOSED PARTITIONS WITHIN SAID HOPPER, MEANS FOR REMOVABLY SECURING THE ENDS OF SAID PARTITIONS TO FRONT AND REAR WALLS OF SAID HOPPER, AN INCLINED CHUTE FOR SUPPLYING ROAD SURFACING MATERIALS TO SAID DISCHARGE ORIFICE, THE INNERMOST ONE OF EACH PARTITION TOGETHER WITH ONE SIDE WALL OF SAID HOPPER DEFINING A PREDETERMINED WIDTH OF SAID DISCHARGE ORIFICE, SAID PARTITIONS BEING ARRANGED IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP TO SAID ONE SIDE WALL, EACH PARTITION BEING OF SUCCESSIVELY INCREASING HEIGHT IN A DIRECTION TOWARD THE OTHER SIDE WALL TO SUPPORT THE CHUTE IN INCLINED POSITION, SAID CHUTE BEING MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOPPER ABOVE SAID PARTITIONS AND BEING SUPPORTED BY THE UPPER END OF EACH PARTITION IN SAID INCLINED POSITION FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM SAID HOPPER TO A POSITION WHERE THE LOWER END THEREOF IS SUPPORTED ON THE INNERMOST PARTITION WHICH DEFINES IN PART THE WIDTH OF SAID DISCHARGE ORIFICE, SAID CHUTE ADJACENT ITS UPPER END EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH AN APERTURE DEFINED BY SAID OTHER SIDE WALL OPPOSED TO SAID ONE SIDE WALL DEFINING IN PART THE WIDTH OF SAID DISCHARGE ORIFICE, SAID CHUTE RESTING UPON SAID OTHER SIDE WALL AND BEING WITHDRAWABLE THROUGH SAID APERTURE TO EXPOSE SAID PARTITIONS WITHIN SAID HOPPER, SAID CHUTE BEING CONSTRUCTED OF LINKED HINGED SEGMENTS WHOSE TRANSVERSE SPAN INDIVIDUALLY CORRESPOND TO THE DISTANCES BETWEEN ADJACENT PARTITIONS AND TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SIDE WALL SUPPORTING SAID CHUTE AND THE PARTITION ADJACENT THERETO SUCH THAT A GIVEN NUMBER OF PARTITIONS WILL BE EXPOSED BY THE WITHDRAWAL OF AN EQUAL NUMBER OF SEGMENTS FROM SAID HOPPER, SAID SEGMENTS WHEN WITHDRAWN BEING FOLDABLE DOWNWARDLY ADJACENT THE EXTERIOR OF SAID SIDE WALL SUPPORTING SAID CHUTE. 